The present invention pertains to a furniture slide for easy and efficiently moving heavy objects across floor surfaces. This invention is especially concerned with a furniture slide which is convertible for movement of furniture and other objects across floor surfaces having different or varying texture.
In the moving industry and in the carpet cleaning industry, it is quite usual to face the situation of having to move large, heavy and sometimes awkwardly shaped furniture within the confines of buildings. The most common method used for moving heavy objects is for the movers or cleaners to pick the object up and carry it by hand, but this is not always a feasible or preferable arrangement. With the exception of moving furniture up and down stairways, or a special orientation of heavy or awkwardly shaped furniture which requires lifting, it has been found that placing slides under the object to be moved is beneficial so that the article may be slid across the horizontal surfaces which it must traverse in order to be relocated or moved within the confines of the building.
Various other prior art devices have been suggested for placing under the legs of furniture or placing under a furniture base which does not include legs, in order that the furniture may be moved across floor surfaces. The prior art devices, however, do not take into consideration all of the problems that are associated with moving heavy furniture or other objects across a flooring surface, which may even be a rugged surface. One of the problems that exists is that the surface sliding across the carpet must be a type of material that provides minimal friction between the carpet and the sliding surface, while the upper portion of the slide that meets with the furniture object must provide sufficient frictional contact with the furniture.
Further problems with furniture slides involve furniture slides catching upon the rugged surface on which it slides, causing the slides to come out from underneath the furniture object being moved.
Another problem encountered with conventional furniture slides is that they are generally adapted to slide over carpeted surfaces and therefore do not easily and efficiently slide over hard floor surfaces, such as hardwood or tile. It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a furniture slide which is convertible or adaptable to either carpeted or hard floor situations.